My city, my home

Warsaw, capital city of Warsaw [2] (capital city of Warsaw) - the capital of Poland and the Mazowieckie voivodship, the largest city in the country, located in its central-eastern part, in the Central Mazovian Lowland, on the Vistula River.

It obtained city rights before 1,300 [3]. In 1569, by virtue of the union of Lublin, Warsaw was established as the venue for sessions of the Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth [a]. From 1573 there were free elections there, and in 1596-1611 the royal court and central offices were moved to Warsaw.

Warsaw is the largest Polish city in terms of population (1 758 143 inhabitants, as of 30 June 2017) [1] [4] and area (517.24 km² including the Vistula) [1].

It is the only Polish city whose system is defined by a separate act. Since 2002, Warsaw is an urban commune with the status of a city with poviat rights [5]. It consists of 18 auxiliary units - districts of the Capital City of Warsaw

Warsaw is an important scientific, cultural, political and economic center. Here are the headquarters, among others The President, the Sejm and the Senate, the Council of Ministers and the National Bank of Poland. Warsaw is also the headquarters of the Frontex agency responsible for the security of the external borders of the European Union and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE agenda.

Warsaw is the second (after Lwów) Polish city awarded with the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Military Order [7]. She was also awarded the Order of the Grunwald Cross of the first class [8] [9], the Cross of Independence with swords [10] and the Warsaw Uprising Cross [11].

In 2010, the think tank Globalization and World Cities (GaWC), examining the mutual relations between world cities in the context of globalization, recognized Warsaw as a global metropolis (Alpha -) [12]. In 2016, this rating was increased to Alpha